The General Confederation of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam South (ECVS) held a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City on June 23-24 to celebrate 100 years of Protestantism in Vietnam.

The celebration drew the participation of pastors, dignitaries and nearly 10,000 Protestants from Ho Chi Minh City, southern provinces and the Central Highlands as well as representatives from domestic and international Protestant churches.

Speaking at the event, Bui Thanh Ha, Deputy Head of the Government Committee for Religious Affairs, affirmed that over the past century, the ECVS dignitaries and followers have always shown their patriotism and close attachment to the nation.

While praising Protestants’ great contributions to the cause of national building, Ha stressed that the celebration represented the community’s great love toward the ECVS and was also a vivid manifestation of the Vietnamese State’s sound religious policy.

He expressed his belief that with the 100-year tradition of travelling with the nation under the motto of ,“Living the Gospel in the Nation, Serving God, the Fatherland and People", the ECVS will make more contributions to the nation and people through social and charitable activities in support for the poor and disabled and natural disaster victims.

The Ho Chi Minh City ceremony was the third activity in a series of celebrations of Protestantism presence in Vietnam. Earlier, similar celebrations were held by the ECVS in Da Nang and by the Evangelical Church of Vietnam North in Hanoi.

Vietnam is now home to more than 1 million Protestants, who belong to over 60 different Protestant organisations, sects and groups. The ECVS boasts the largest number of followers in the country with 700,000 living in 34 cities and provinces from Quang Tri province./.